Staff & Board

Leadership

Murray Chase is the Producing Executive Director of Venice Theatre, a position he has held since 1995. He is an active participant — and former board member — of Florida Theatre Conference and Southeastern Theatre Conference. He recently completed his term as President of the American Association of Community Theatre, and currently works with the organization as a member of the national Festival Commission. He has served as a frequent grant review panelist for both the Florida Arts Council and the Mississippi Arts Commission. Recently he represented the United States as a delegation member to the World Congress of the International Amateur Theatre Association. Under his leadership, Venice Theatre will host for the fourth time the aactWORLDFEST June 22-27, 2020. Chase is also a former chair of the CEC for Sarasota County Arts Council and a former president of Venice MainStreet.

Having first “trod the boards” in third grade as the Bat in “How the Hoot Owl Lost His Hoot on Halloween,” Allan is an award-winning actor and director who has been involved in the theatre for most of his life. 2019 marks his 20th year on staff at Venice Theatre. He has been performing here and at most other theatres in the Sarasota area since moving to Florida’s West Coast from Atlanta in the early 1980s. Favorite directing gigs include The Full Monty, The Rocky Horror Show, To Kill a Mockingbird, Steel Magnolias and Always, Patsy Cline. Favorite acting roles include John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Paul in Extremities and multiple roles in Greater Tuna alongside Producing Executive Director Murray Chase.

A North Carolina native, Kris came to Venice Theatre via New York to play “Coalhouse Walker” in Ragtime and never left. He holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from Mars Hill College, and has performed with various theatres and cruise ships worldwide. As well as serving as General Manager and Director of Diversity, he is VT’s education liaison for area schools and organizations.